Saving Private Ryan Review

Click here to go to my review of Sunset Boulevard 

 SPOILER ALERT

Number 42 on the top 1000 films of all time is Steven Spielberg's 1998 epic war drama Saving Private Ryan.  It's a film that I have seen bits of, but never watched all the way through, so I thought I would give it a watch.

What's it about:  Private James Francis Ryan of Iowa (Matt Damon) is one of four brothers who all serve in the U.S Army during the Second World War.  When all three of his brothers are killed and Private Ryan is Missing in Action, Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) and seven other men are then assigned to find Private Ryan and to bring him home.

The Good: This film has received critical acclaim for its realistic and unrelenting portrayl of war.  I argue that this acclaim is very well earnt.  The first half hour of the film depicting the 1944 Omaha Beach assault was intense, brutal and chaotic.  It was confusing and difficult to tell which character was which.  Whilst this might be a criticism for another film, I really liked it in Saving Private Ryan, as I imagine this is what war is really like.  You don't know what's going on, you don't know who's shooting at you and people are being killed around you.  On a similar note, I also really like how the Omaha Beach Assault was coloured.  Everything was very muted and drab, except for splashes of red, which acted as a great contrast to the desaturated colouring scheme.

Another thing that the film did well was its portrayal of loyalty and camaraderie that soldiers share.  Corporal Timothy Upham (Jeremy Davis), a newcomer to the group, is looked upon with suspicion and is subject to taunting and hazing from the other members, before being slowly accepted.  However, the soldiers' loyalty to each other is best depicted after Captain Miller lets a German soldier, who was responsible for the death of Private Wade (Giovanni Ribisi,) go free.  This angers Captain Miller's men so much that one of them threatens to desert.  This was one of the best parts of the film, as it depicted the love that each man has for each other and how much a death of any of their comrades can affect them.  Another great example of the men's loyalty to each other is within the battle scene at the film's conclusion Captain Miller is shot by the German soldier he previously freed; Corporal Upham, who hitherto has been frozen in terror, leaves his hiding place and kills the German soldier.

The acting all around was also very impressive.  It was believable and convincing.  One of the standout examples was when the squad were taking rest in a church and Private Wade talks about how when he was a child he would pretend to be asleep when his mother came home from work and tried to talk to him.  This scene was great, not just because of Giovanni Ribisci's acting, but also because of how the film engages with the themes of family and home.

The Bad: One thing that did annoy me about the film was how relatively easy the soldiers found Private Ryan.  Granted two of their number did die in the progress, but I still felt that they found him too early into the film.  I felt like a good portion of the film went onto the final battle scene and I feel that this time could have been better spent with Captain Miller and his men searching for Private Ryan.  Whilst the battle scene at the beginning was very good at setting the scene, I felt that the ending battle scene dragged on a little long.

The Ugly: The German soldier who killed Captain Miller after the latter spared his life is one of the ugliest examples of betrayal in film.

Rating: Awesome

This film is a powerful and realistic depiction of war.  It is chaotic, hard-hitting and unrelenting.  The writing and acting were very impressive, but I felt that the film did stretch a little thin in places and Private Ryan was found too quickly. 

Sunset Boulevard Review

SPOILER ALERT

Number 41 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 1950 Sunset Boulevard.

What's it about: Joe Gillis (William Holden) is a down on his luck scriptwriter.  Upon fleeing repossession men who wish to take his car, Gillis happens upon a seemingly abandoned house on Sunset Boulevard and decides to hole up there for the night.  However, he finds that the house is owned by Norma Desmond, a long-forgotten silent film star who wishes to reclaim her lost fame and glory.  She then employs Joe Gillis to doctor her script called Salome, which she wrote to relaunch her career.  

The good: What I liked best about Sunset Boulevard was its portrayl of the fleetingness and superficiality of fame.  This is more present in today's society than ever.  Living in the Age of Information, Youtube and viral videos, it is possible for everyone to achieve their fifteen minutes of fame, before being promptly forgotten about.  It is true in the case of Sunset Boulevard and it is true now.  Norma Desmond has become so bitter and resentful about being forgotten that she becomes a recluse, refusing to leave her house and watching her old films over and over again.  This was a great demonstration of obssession and disillusionment.  Joe Gillis also narrates the whole film, which gave it a good touch.  Gillis' narrative voice really helped to add to the noir atmosphere of the film.  I also quite liked the ending.  It was unexpected and a good twist.  It was also strangely appropriate too. The film opens with Gillis' body floating in Norma Desmond's swimming pool and ends with Norma Desmond shooting him after he walks out on her.  After this the press and police lavish attention on Norma and the film closes on her famous line of "I'm ready for my close up." This cylical narrative drew parrels with the cylical nature of fame.  A new trend catches on for a while and is then completely forgotten and another trend takes its place and so on and so forth.  

The bad: Like some other films of this era that I've seen, Sunset Boulevard didn't keep me engaged throughout and I did get a little bored at times.  

The Ugly: It was quite sad and pitiful to see Norma Desmond sitting in a dusty room watching her old films all day.

Rating: Good

This film was a great commentary on the fleeting and superficial nature of fame.  Great acting from William Holden and Gloria Swanson also contributed to its success.  Whilst Joe Gillis might have saved Norma Desmond's private image, he could do little for her public image.

Like Stars on Earth Review

Click here to read my previous review of Psycho 

SPOILER ALERT

Number 40 on the top 1000 films of all time is another Indian film: Aamir Khan's 'Like Stars on Earth. (Taare Zameen Par)

What's it about: Ishaan (Darsheel Safary) is an eight year old dyslexic boy.  Whilst he excels in art, he struggles in literacy, numeracy and physical education.  His family and teachers are unaware that he is dyslexic and so constantly berate and belittle him.  It is only when his art teacher Ram Shankar Nikumbh (Aamir Khan) recognises that Ishaan is dyslexic and begins tutoring him to overcome it do things begin to improve.

The Good: This film is touching and deals well with a sensitive issue.  Especially in the west, where there's such an emphasis on children with special educational needs, it was surprising to see the ignorance and hosility displayed by Ishaan's teachers.  However, this was also quite refreshing and interesting to see.  It was an intriguing change to how these learning orders are perceived and portrayed in the west.  I also really liked the visual style of the film.  To convey Ishaan's thought process, a lot of animation and claymation was used.  I really liked this.  It was very entertaining and quite a creative way to portray how Ishaan thought about things.

The bad: The film was punctutated by a number of musical numbers.  Whilst this is worked in some places, in others, it really stilted up the narrative and made things very, very cheesy.  I also felt Ishaan was quite annoying and unlikeable at times.  Granted, this is understandable, due to his growing frustration at his dyslexia, but this didn't stop him from irritating me.  I also thought that the ending was quite corny.

The Ugly: Some of the teachers really were horrible to Ishaan.

Rating: Good

Whilst this film dealt well with its sensitive subject matter, I didn't like the musical numbers which unengaged me from the film and I also felt it was a little cheesy at times.  That, notwithstanding, at least 'Like Stars on Earth's' happy ending meant that all of the characters could walk down sunset boulevard.  

Click here to read my next review of Sunset Boulevard